Doughnut production involves mixing and extruding dough and then frying the dough. In some non-limiting processes, dough is cut and dropped onto a belt or tray and transported through a proofer to a frying apparatus for cooking. After cooking, the dough-based product may be glazed, filled, and/or decorated to make the final doughnut. Other processes for making doughnuts are also known.
An apparatus for extruding dough is often referred to as an extruder. Typical extruders comprise a container for the dough, a lid with hold-down screws, and an extruding mechanism that dispenses the dough-based products at the base of the container. The dough is extruded and cut by an extruding mechanism.
A typical extruder is constructed somewhat like a pressure cooker, and the container is airtight when the screws are tightened and the lid is secured. Once secured, the container is pressurized to a pre-selected starting air pressure that is based on the type of dough-based product to be dispensed. Air pressure can be important to the maintenance of proper dispensed weight of the selected dough-based product. Next, the extrusion process is initiated and air pressure forces the dough through the cutters as they are opened and closed by the air cylinder mechanism. Examples of extruders are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,511,689 and 6,511,309. U.S. Pat. No. 6,511,689 is hereby incorporated by reference.
Extruders are important in controlling the size and shape of dough-based products. Among other features and aspects, the extruders described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,511,689, assist in controlling the size of dough-based products. Among other features and aspects, dough cutters assist in controlling the shape of dough-based products.
For many dough-based products, the shapes of the products are uniform. For example, many doughnuts have generally uniform shapes. Doughnuts, such as ring doughnuts, doughnut shells, doughnut holes, and others, often have rounded, substantially uniform shapes.
Doughnuts and other dough-based products have traditionally been extruded and cut as substantially uniform shapes for a number of reasons. The extrusion and cutting of dough-based products having generally uniform shapes is believed to be easier than the extrusion and cutting of dough-based products having relatively complex and/or non-uniform shapes. For example, with substantially uniform dough-based products, the flow of dough through and out the dough cutters is generally consistent at all locations. As dough-based products have traditionally been extruded and cut as substantially uniform shapes, the production of dough-based products having relatively complex and/or non-uniform shapes could require the purchase and design of new dough cutters for each new shape, which could be expensive.
A need exists for manufacturers of dough-based products to be able to extrude and cut dough-based products having a variety of shapes. The ability to extrude and cut dough-based products having a variety of shapes could provide unique marketing opportunities to manufacturers and sellers of dough-based products. Consumers could be intrigued by the various product shapes and designs available. For example, manufacturer and sellers of dough-based products might generate consumer interest by selling dough-based products in shapes associated with holidays, events, sports teams, locations, companies, cities, states, etc. A need also exists to be able to extrude and cut dough-based products having a variety of shapes in a manner that is cost-effective to the manufacturers and sellers of dough-based products.